Newton's Third Law equal and opposite forces

Although the equal and opposite forces stated in Newton's third law are sometimes referred to as an action-reaction pair in reality they do not share a cause and effect relationship. They arise simultaneously, abide together and disappear simultaneously.

Imagine you are spinning a washer attached to the end of a string in a circle. The force the string is applying to the washer is equal and opposite to the force the washer is applying to the string, which are the centripetal and centrifugal forces respectively.

The action-reaction pain as stated in Newton's third law does not share a cause and effect relationship then as soon as the string is cut both forces no longer exist.

According to relativity no signal can travel faster than light. But it the two forces cease to exist simultaneously the information that the string has been cut is instantaneously transmitted to the washer. So this information travels faster than the speed of light

Originally posted by protonman
According to relativity no signal can travel faster than light. But it the two forces cease to exist simultaneously the information that the string has been cut is instantaneously transmitted to the washer. So this information travels faster than the speed of light [/B]

The conclusion in this paragraph is made under the assumption that the tension in the string drops to zero at all points in the string simultaneously.

In other words, the argument boils down to, "The information travels faster than light because the information travels infinitely fast."

Staff: Mentor

Newton's laws are classical and therefore limited by the fact that they don't take into account Relativity. The example you cite also doesn't take into account the speed of sound - not a limitation of Newton's laws, but a flaw in the model.

The limitations of Newton's laws are quite well known to physicists. So what exactly is the problem here?

Your ideal experiment probably assumes a perfectly inelastic string. Real-world strings are elastic, and a short while after the cut has been made, the washer will still be feeling the string tension. It will take a finite time for any given part of the string to relax, and the speed at which the relaxation propagates along the string will be very much less than the speed of light.

Originally posted by protonman
Because the action-reaction pair stated in Newton's third law does not actually have a cause and effect relationship. They are produced, abide and destroyed simultaneously.

And that would be fine if Newton's laws held absolutely in the real universe. But they don't. In the real, physical universe, the information is not propagated along the string instantaneously.

Originally posted by Tom And that would be fine if Newton's laws held absolutely in the real universe. But they don't. In the real, physical universe, the information is not propagated along the string instantaneously.

But you are using the thing I am questioning as you reason which is wrong. What I am questioning is the very idea that information can not be propagated instantaneously.

Anyway, are you saying that Newton's third law is does not hold absolutely in the real universe?

Ok let me clarify the point. The action-reaction pair stated in Newton's third law is not really an action-reaction pair because there is no cause and effect relationship. Therefore, they arise simultaneously, abide simultaneously and are destroyed simultaneously.

If this is the case then when I am pushing a stone with my finger the force applied by my finger and the equal and opposite force applied by the stone on my finger arise at the same time. How does the stone know that a force is being applied to it and to push back with an equal force? The information that my finger is pushing on the stone must be instantaneous because, and this is the most important point, the two forces do not share a cause and effect relationship.

Staff: Mentor

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Newton's Third Law

Originally posted by protonman Anyway, are you saying that Newton's third law is does not hold absolutely in the real universe?

Yes.

If this is the case then when I am pushing a stone with my finger the force applied by my finger and the equal and opposite force applied by the stone on my finger arise at the same time. How does the stone know that a force is being applied to it and to push back with an equal force? The information that my finger is pushing on the stone must be instantaneous because, and this is the most important point, the two forces do not share a cause and effect relationship.

Forces transfer at the speed of sound. When you start pushing on a stone, a pressure wave travels through the stone at the speed of sound (in the stone) to satisfy Newton's 3rd.

Have you heard of the "water hammer" effect? When you close a water valve quickly, the water right next to the valve stops immediatly, but the water further away does not. The water further away slams into the stopped water, stopping itself. Water even further away does the same thing, etc, etc, etc. This sends a shock wave backwards through the pipe away from the valve at the speed of sound, making a banging noise in the pipe.

When you cut a string pulling on something (in your first example), that information travels in a pressure wave through the string at the speed of sound in that string. When the pressure wave gets to the washer, then the washer "knows" the string is broken.

There IS a cause-effect relationship between the forces, but its not instantaneous and its not absolute for Newton's 3rd, at least in the way you are framing it.

Good analogy russ. Rapid closure of the valve results in a localized area of high pressure which compresses the water, and stretches the walls of the pipe(Hooke's law), converting the kinetic energy into elastic energy. This propagates a wave of high pressure upstream at the speed of sound. The momentum in the upstream direction causes a localized area of low pressure at the valve, causing the pipe walls to contract, starting the cycle over again(harmonic motion). Below the valve, the inverse condition causes an area of low pressure to develop, creating the same harmonic motion downstream as well. Internal and external non-conservative forces eventually dampen and end the cycle.

Your reasoning is valid, it is only the observation you have mistaken. The thing is, this two-part statement:

Originally posted by protonman Ok let me clarify the point. The action-reaction pair stated in Newton's third law is not really an action-reaction pair because there is no cause and effect relationship. Therefore, they arise simultaneously, abide simultaneously and are destroyed simultaneously.

If the second statement were true, it would provide a fairly good support for the first. However, the sceond statement is not true. So the fact that these interactions are not simultaneous (which is verified by all observations), actually serves as disproof of the premise that they are not cause-and-effect.

Staff: Mentor

Originally posted by protonman So when two particles touch the forces do not arise simultaneously at the mutual point of contact?

Yes, they do. Thats a different issue altogether.

It differs from your string-washer thought experiment in that the point of contact is where the string broke, not at the washer and your hand. At the point the string breaks, the loss of force is instantaneous for both pieces of string where they broke. But at the instant the string breaks, the washer and your hand still feel the force as if the string was intact.

Originally posted by russ_watters Yes, they do. Thats a different issue altogether.

It differs from your string-washer thought experiment in that the point of contact is where the string broke, not at the washer and your hand. At the point the string breaks, the loss of force is instantaneous for both pieces of string where they broke. But at the instant the string breaks, the washer and your hand still feel the force as if the string was intact.

Same idea. The knowledge that the particles have hit is instantaneously transmitted to each of them.